Thread:

*The Pogba Reintroduction*

Ole admitted he was wrong to start Pogba early on in the season as he had misjudged his recovery from covid.

But ever since realising his mistake, the way he's handled Pogba's Reintroduction has been spot on.

Let's take a look

Background:

- Pogba tested +ve on Aug 27th
- ManUtd played their first game on Sept 19th
- Pogba had just 3 weeks to recover
- Pogba had barely 2 days of training

But Ole felt he needed to start Pogba as he was his best player - he was wrong.

Pogba has played 8 games for United this season and this can be easily split through the middle into 2 different sets:

- First 4 games when he was still recovering
- Last 4 games when he was being reintroduced

Let's look at both one by one:

Pogba 1st 4 games:

Pogba played 4 out of United first 5 games starting 3

- 66 mins vs Palace
- didn't play vs Luton
- 64 mins vs Brighton
- 22 mins vs Brighton
- 90 mins vs Spurs

It was evident he wasn't fit or effective - Ole had to take him off early in all but the last game

By now Ole had to go back to the drawing board and was looking at a way to play without arguably his best player while facing the toughest run of fixtures he's faced in a while. The rumours in the media about his job being on the line, although unfounded, certainly didn't help.

The solution he found was genius
- use Pogba as an impact sub vs tired legs

This ticks a few boxes

Can start a Fred/McT pivot - shield defense
Can try a different system(s)
Can give Pogba much needed rest

But most importantly

Pogba plays higher up when he comes on

This lead to the 2nd set of 4 games for Pogba

- 22 min vs Castle
- 24 mins vs PSG
- 33 mins vs Chelsea
- 90 mins vs RBL

Our best run of form this season where we won 3 and drew 1 beating PSG & RBL comfortably with Pogba playing a big role in turning the tide in almost all games

From playing 66, 64, 22 & 90 mins in the first 4 games & barely making an impact, Pogba had just played 79 mins combined in the 3 games before RBL & helped us win almost all 3

79 mins of playing higher up helped him gain fitness & confidence & got him ready to play 90 vs RBL

In the 1st set of 4 games Pogba had just 1 goal that too vs Brighton in the EFL cup from a combined 242 mins

In the 2nd set of 4 games Pogba had 2 assists, one each against PSG & RBL from a combined total of just 159 mins.

Better output vs better opposition in a shorter time

Ole learned from his mistake by turning Pogba into an impact sub

He realised 20 mins of Pogba at 90% is far more useful than 60 mins of Pogba at 50%

It was a tough, bold call, a call that meant he had to justify his selections on a daily basis but a call he knew will pay off

Pogba's reintroduction is far from complete, he has just played his first full 90 and I expect him to be gradually eased back in more

But the last 4 games gave us a lot more +ves than just Pogba

We see the depth in our midfield
We see the different systems we can play

Ole is a learning manager - his biggest strength is he'll accept when he's wrong & instead of defending himself, he'll learn

The Pogba mistake gave us 3 wins, 3 new systems & new found depth

This selfless team first attitude is why he always turns an adversity into an advantage